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Thursday, July 28, 2011

This recipe is a staple in our region of Italy. The Puglia region. My family lives in Bari and Mola Di Bari which is a southern coastal city off the Adriatic. Panzarotti later introduced to Northern Italy in the 1940's by Agostino Luini.

*If you ever get a chance to go to Italy, the Puglia Region is beautiful and visit Trulli!

I love Bari!

Sometimes this was a whole family event, everyone stuffing their own pockets. We would have these many times a year but definitely on New Years Eve. But honestly we get cravings and we have to make these and can't wait until the holiday. We just recently made them for Fourth of July. They are so good, filled with your favorite pizza toppings, I have even made Manwich ones with shredded cheddar and sweet ones with pie fillings (and yes I've done Nutella and bananas)(if my mom knew I did that with the pie fillings she'd probably hit me with a dish towel). You can get really creative, but the original panzerotti feature, sauce and cheese and then whatever else you like, our family would do capers, pepperoni, ground meat sauce with cheese, cooked sausage, and my dad of course with his anchovies and ham. The stuffing possibilities are endless! You can make your own pizza dough or buy it and make as many as you want! Also making them small would make great appetizers. This is one of my favorite foods!

When we got to my mom's on Fourth of July she already had the assembly going and her homemade dough made. My daughter insisted that she wanted to help so I thought this was a great opportunity to have her hands get dirty and her head into the kitchen. Getting lessons of Italian cooking to the 3rd generation. This was Sofia happily rolling the dough on our square wood plank that is about 30 years old. We always roll out our dough on it and we always work on this board when working with any type of dough or pastry.

Depending how many Panzarotti you want to make depends on how much dough you make. My mom will make up to 5 pounds of dough, some for the Panzarotti, Focaccia or Bread. She always makes lots of Panzarotti because she cooks like she has The Army to feed. But 1-2 pounds is good for a big dinner because usually you only eat these for dinner with nothing else. They are filling. What is also great is that you can freeze them before you fry them (I would separate them between sheets of deli paper so they don't stick and then you would defrost them before frying or if you have leftovers, they last a good couple days if they last that long.

The person who was most importantly missing was my Dad. He would always be sitting at the table rolling, filling and of course critiquing our way of doing the panzarotti. My Dad though is now in Heaven but my mom and I couldn't help but talk about him while doing the Panzerotti. We had some great laughs and would say things that he would say to us while we assemble them. It was sad and nice at the same time. Keepin the memory of him alive. This recipe is extra special for our family because of him.

So here is the Panzarotti Recipe, I hope you love them and enjoy them as much as our family and friends do.

This is basically a pizza that has been folded over and fried, well kind of... It's way better!

Take a piece of dough the size of a tennis ball and flatten it with a rolling pin into a flat and round shape on lightly floured surface. The thickness of the dough should be no more than 1/4 of an inch.

Place your favorite fillings at the center of the dough, do not over stuff. We usually start with a tablespoon of sauce with mozzarella cheese, then add what we want additionally (meats and vegetables).

Fold the dough over the filling and close it in the shape of 1/2 moon. Press down the outer edges of the dough to completely seal the panzerotti. Make sure to seal well or the will open in frying process. Prepare all of them before starting frying process.

Fry in hot olive oil till they are golden brown (you'll have to flip sides while frying, I would use salad tongs to do this, drain on paper towels and serve when you have fried them all. Be careful not to burn your mouth, you will grown impatient and want to eat one right away!! Buon Appetito!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

This recipe looked intimidating. I was nervous to make it and I really thought it was going to be a flop. I amazed myself when it actually came out pretty delicious. The only thing that I didn't like was putting the raw layer of almond paste. It was very overpowering and I didn't want to eat it. I did try it with a cake and it in itty bitty pieces with the cake bites it wasn't so bad. To have the whole piece of almond paste wasn't that great and no one ate that layer. I'll leave the almond paste out next time. This cake would be really yummy frosted with a layer of whip cream and fresh fruit. I may even put some of the almond paste in the cake batter.

All in all this was a great cake and it was certainly didn't turn out to be as intimidating as I thought it was going to be. Le Fraisier is so versatile that you can put any fruit inside and along side. I used Strawberries and Bananas. I used my own custard recipe and didn't add the gelatin. My cream filling held up and the strawberries showed through around the edge of the cake. I used Maraschino Cherry syrup from the jar of cherries as my simple syrup. It provided a little of an Amaretto flavor.

I froze the cake once complete overnight. Then defrosted it in the fridge or you can leave it out because it will take overnight to defrost.

Another thing I recommend is to have lots of clean bowls. Big bowls and Medium bowls. I went through so many dishes. Expect to make a mess in your kitchen and table.

In a heavy saucepan, stir together the milk and 1/4 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg. Stir together the remaining sugar and cornstarch; then stir them into the egg until smooth. When the milk comes to a boil, drizzle it into the bowl in a thin stream while mixing so that you do not cook the eggs. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the eggs don't curdle or scorch on the bottom. Add Lemon Peel if desired.

When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from the heat and remove lemon peel.

Stir in the butter and vanilla, mixing until the butter is completely blended in.

Pour into a heat-proof container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled before using.

Line the bottom of an 9 inch spring form pan with parchment paper. Do not grease the sides of the pan.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Add in all but 3 tablespoons of sugar, and all of the salt. Stir to combine.

In a small bowl combine the oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla and lemon zest. Whisk thoroughly.

Combine with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly for about one minute, or until very smooth.

Put the egg whites into a stand mixer, and beat on medium speed using a whisk attachment on a medium speed, until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat on a medium speed until the whites hold soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat on a medium-high speed until the whites hold firm and form shiny peaks.

Using a grease free rubber spatula, scoop about ⅓ of the whites into the yolk mixture and fold in gently. Gently fold in the remaining whites just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. I did mine for 45 minutes. It was Perfect.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack. To unmold, run a knife around the sides to loosen the cake from the pan and remove the spring form sides. Invert the cake and peel off the parchment paper. Refrigerate for up to four days.

Line the sides of a 8-inch (20 cm) spring form pan with plastic wrap. Cut the cake in half horizontally to form two layers. Fit the bottom layer into the prepared spring form pan. Moisten the layer evenly with the simple syrup. When the cake has absorbed enough syrup to resemble a squishy sponge, you have enough.

Hull and slice in half enough strawberries to arrange around the sides of the cake pan. Place the cut side of the strawberry against the sides of the pan, point side up forming a ring.

Pipe cream in-between strawberries and a thin layer across the top of the cake.
Hull and quarter your remaining strawberries and place them in the middle of the cake. Cover the strawberries and entirely with the all but 1 tbsp. of the pastry cream.

Place the second cake layer on top and moisten with the simple syrup.

Lightly dust a work surface with confectioners' sugar and roll out the almond paste to a 10-inch (25 cm) round 1/16 inch (1.5 mm) thick. Spread the remaining 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of pastry cream on the top of the cake and cover with the round of almond paste.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
To serve release the sides of the spring form pan and peel away the plastic wrap.
Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

I molded a flower out of almond paste and cut a heart out to decorate the top. I could of been more creative but it was late and I was tired. LOL!

The perfect Slice...YUMMMM!

So my final thought is that you should at least make this once. Then you can rip up the recipe and make it your own version. I really loved the cake part and will use it again. I love my custard. It doesn't make that much so I double it just to eat custard. The filling is great for any type cake or pastry. Like I said before I didn't use gelatin because I don't like jello or the whole idea of gelatin and what it's made from. You can use Agar which is a non animal based gelatin. But you can eliminate the whole idea of gelatin in the recipe. I am sure there are many things that I eat that has gelatin in it but I prefer to leave it alone.

It was nice to make something from scratch and that I've never done before or haven't heard of and of a different culture. I guess that's what made it a good Challenge. Thank You!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

When I was a kid my Godmother always made this calzone using crescent rolls. She would pinch the perforated together to make a sheet of the crescent dough and then fill it with this sausage mixture. It was so good it seemed you could eat the whole thing yourself. My Godmother is a great cook and I always saw her cook when I was there. It seemed that was what she always did. As soon as my Godfather came home from his construction job he would get ready to dinner. It was all ready when he would come home. He would be so tanned almost red because of the sun in the summer months. He was the darkest Italian man I ever knew. We all had to chip in to set the table and we would all sit down for dinner. My Godfather always at the head of the table like every other Italian father. I have so many memories of eating dinner at my Godparents and sitting with my Godsisters and Godbrother. I could honestly say it was my second family. My Godparents truly lived up to the role of real Godparents. Well my Godmother always showed me how she cooked. She's from Northern Italy in a city called Bologna (bo loan ya) not (bo loan nee). That's the correct pronunciation. So her style of cooking was very different than my mom's cooking because my family is from Southern Italy in a city called Bari, Italy. Probably the 2 most influential women in my love of cooking, baking and food in general. They are the strongest Italian women I know.

So onto this one dish my Godmother would make. Like I said it's a little bit of an Americanized Italian Calzone. I never knew how my Godmother came about making this and I really don't care because it is so good.

Now Pillsbury makes crescent dough without perforations. Which makes making this calzone easier and prevent the filling from oozing out of the perforations if you didn't pinch them right. So I buy the Pillsbury Recipe Creations Crescent Dough. You will want to buy 2.

Here is a pic of their product:

How you want to do this recipe is first make the filling. You buy the bulk pork sausage, I always buy Bob Evans sausage.

Split sausage and cheese mixture in half and place in middle of crescent dough leaving 1 inch untouched at ends, sprinkle on top of sausage mixture 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella/pizza cheese blend.

Scoot over calzone to lay 2nd. sheet of crescent dough and do the same steps. (This will allow you to bake both on the same sheet at the same time.)

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown as pictured below. Let calzones set for about 10 minutes. Then cut with a sharp knife into strips and serve! You can serve with marinara sauce but these are so good by themselves and make a great party snack!

Add in cream cheese in about 1 ounce pats so that it will be easier to mix and coat the sausage.

Split sausage and cheese mixture in half and place in middle of crescent dough leaving 1 inch untouched at ends, sprinkle on top of sausage mixture 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella/pizza cheese blend

Take one side of dough and stretch over meat mixture and do the same with other side of dough carefully not to rip dough. Fold open edges up and flip calzone over so that the double layer of dough is on bottom. (This will guarantee the dough to fully cook.)

Scoot over calzone to lay 2nd. sheet of crescent dough and do the same steps. (This will allow you to bake both on the same sheet at the same time.)

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown as pictured above. Let calzones set for about 10 minutes. Then cut with a sharp knife into strips and serve! You can serve with marinara sauce but these are so good by themselves and make a great party snack!

This is so easy to make and it's delicious. I hope to get your feedback if you ever make it.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

What a way to mix apple pie, cheesecake and streusel topping all together. You get Crunch, Tartness, Sweetness and Creaminess! This is such a great and easy dessert perfect for all year round, especially in the Fall and Winter. The moist apples and creamy cheesecake topped with a sugar crunch topping is so good and it's a feel good dessert. This is a perfect get together dessert with most items you may find already on hand. It's impressive and makes a great addition to your Thanksgiving Dessert List! What a great dish to bring to a party for the hostess to serve! The hint to this recipe that I want you to keep in mind is that it's best and really brings out the apple pie part in this to finely chop the apples. If you don't the apples will not thoroughly cook. Enjoy this great dessert and wishing you sweet dreams! PS: Don't forget the Caramel Topping! Ooey Gooey! =)